Who are the Lay Dominicans?
Lay Dominicans are Catholic lay people who live a truly sacramental life so that our lives are Christocentric, centered on Jesus Christ. We come from all walks of life, all professions and backgrounds, yet we have a common drive: to bring souls to Christ. We understand how God is relevant in today’s world and our joy is rooted in helping others to understand the same.
The 4 Pillars
PRAYER
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
Through private prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, Mass, and Confession, Lay Dominicans center their lives on Christ and from that relationship are able to bear fruit in the world.
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
Lay Dominicans live out our call to community first in our families, then in the regular gatherings of the local fraternity. We support each other in prayer, conversation, and charity.
STUDY
APOSTOLATE
APOSTOLATE
Study forms both the mind and the soul and equips Lay Dominicans to serve and save souls. This pursuit of truth is the natural companion of prayer and the necessary foundation of apostolate.
APOSTOLATE
APOSTOLATE
APOSTOLATE
Each Lay Dominican's apostolate will be unique, but at its heart always involves preaching. One's preaching mission flows from prayer and study and is directed to the salvation of souls.
Three Mottos
VERITAS
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
TRUTH
Truth is more than a concept. He is a person: Our Lord Jesus Christ. With truth as our goal, we are guided in our mission to bring the truth of Christ to each soul around us.
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
TO CONTEMPLATE AND GIVE TO OTHERS THE FRUITS OF OUR CONTEMPLATION
Before we can preach, we must pray, study, and meditate. Through contemplation, we draw close to Christ and model ourselves on Him as we strive for the salvation of souls.
LAUDARE, BENEDICERE, PRAEDICARE
CONTEMPLARE ET CONTEMPLATA ALIIS TRADERE
LAUDARE, BENEDICERE, PRAEDICARE
TO PRAISE, TO BLESS, TO PREACH
Amid the confusion of our world, we must become guides to that which brings true happiness. Our way of life provides a vibrant, joyful example of the 'abundant life' which Christ promised, and through our preaching we draw others to that same fulfillment.
Lay Dominican Formation Process
Wondering about the Formation Process timeline for a Lay Dominican? Here is an overview:
Lay Dominican life is truly a vocation, and so the process of formation is undertaken over a number of years, in the context of a community and with the specific guidance of a formation director. A member’s formator, council, and brothers and sisters in the Order will all help that person discern whether God is calling them to this particular way of living their baptismal promises. As part of that discernment, Dominicans also undergo a formal study program. Here is how the process of formation usually progresses:
1. Inquiry
Come and see! You are welcome to come to meetings at any time without a commitment.
2. Postulancy
You will meet with a formation director and go through study modules in preparation for entering the Order. This period is usually 6 months.
3. Novitiate
You will be received into the Order as a member of the fraternity. Your studies with a formation director will bring you further into the Dominican Way of life as you discern whether to make promises in the Order. This period lasts about one year.
4. Temporary Profession
This stage is designed to help you discern a life vocation, through ongoing formation in your fraternity life and the practice of each of the Four Pillars. You promise to live the Dominican Rule for three years, after which time you can choose to leave, to make life promises, or ask for a one-year extension of your temporary promises.
5. Life Profession
You are fully received into the Order of Preachers for life. You promise to live the rule as an extension of your baptismal mission, and assume the privileges and responsibilities that this entails within the Order, which include sharing fully in the communal life of your fraternity through leadership and service.
... But what if I move?
We get it. School, work, family duties and other life changes may mean that you have to move away once you have begun formation. But never fear: your Dominican status goes with you! No matter where you are in the process, we can help connect you with another Lay Dominican fraternity, either within or outside of the province. If you are still in formation, we will help transfer your preparation as well.
What Do You Do Now? PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
Please pray for guidance from God as to whether or not He is calling you to Dominican spirituality. The goal is to save your soul, so, if you pray, He will put you in the right place to accomplish that end. Remain docile to the Holy Spirit, and listen to God.
What to Expect if You Seek a Lay Dominican Vocation
St. Dominic exhibited a fully sanctified human intellect: an intense intellectual curiosity, exalted by faith; a yearning for peace of heart, or repose in God; and the need for action. These are the three dimensions of Dominican spirituality: the life of the mind in study; the absorption of the mind in God by prayer and contemplation; and the outflow of charity from the soul into apostolic action.
The true signs of Dominican life are inward ones of, active study of the Word of God, a thirst for Truth, a prayerful life, and a joyous giving of oneself in an apostolate.
Not all souls grow closer to God by taking an intellectual route. For example: Lay Franciscans grow in holiness without a lot of study; they focus upon detachment from worldly pleasures, so they practice voluntary poverty. Lay Carmelites pray constantly for the entire Church. Members of the laity who join Opus Dei, sanctify their work as a prayer to God.
One must try to align oneself with a spirituality that will help one’s soul grow in faith, hope, and charity, and, ultimately, reach eternal beatitude (blessed attitude) with God.
How to Avoid Purgatory - The Third Orders
By Father Paul Sullivan
Among the extraordinary graces which Catholics gain by becoming members of a Third Order is a share in many Masses and prayers. To mention, for instance, the Third Order of Saint Dominic, Pope Benedict XV, himself a Tertiary, said: "One of the easiest and most effectual ways of reaching a high degree of sanctity is by becoming a Dominican Tertiary" The members of this order receive during life a share every day in thousands of Masses and prayers, and after death, when, alas, so many are neglected by their relatives, those who are members of this Third Order have a share daily in thousands of other Masses and prayers, this for as long as they remain in Purgatory!Among the many beautiful characteristics of the Order of St. Dominic is its intense devotion and love for the Holy Souls, especially for the souls of its members, friends and benefactors. So true is this that a young Italian nobleman who consulted the Pope as to which religious order he would do well to enter received for answer: "My dear son, you may with much profit join any of the Orders, for in each you will find abundant means of becoming a Saint. After death, however, be a Dominican" The Holy Father meant to imply that the suffrages given after death to their deceased members are, indeed, most abundant in the Dominican Order.The conditions of becoming a member of this order are so easy and the advantages so many that half the world would become Dominican Tertiaries did they know these advantages.
Copyright © 2024 The Woman Clothed with the Sun - All Rights Reserved.
The ideas expressed are those of the author alone and do not represent the endorsement of position of the Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic or the Order of Preachers as a whole.
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